My dream of getting back into native american dancing is getting closer. I am close to having all the parts needed for my fancy dance outfit in useable shape. I checked how it all fit together recently and here’s how it looks.

Test fit of my fancy dance outfit

I’m a lot happier than I look in the photo! Many of the outfit parts are 30+ years old so I’m amazed and glad they are still in workable shape and still fit, especially my lovely, and loud cow bells. I need to clean up the placement of the ties for back bustles and get used to the new feather whips.

There are several things yet to fix, refurbish or outright replace with items more in keeping with a modern era outfit. One I’m working now on is attaching rosettes to the two arm and two back bustles. You can just glimpse the cardboard stand-in for a rosette on my left arm in the picture above. It looks much better with the rosette attached.

Arm Bustle with Rosette

Having just joined the Tecumseh Lodge after enjoying a brief visit to their powwow in August, I’m planning to go to their October craft meeting and dance practice. I’m hoping to have enough of the fancy outfit ready to take it with me and dance in it. That would be the first time I’d done that in something like 30 years! I’m looking forward to it and to their large social dance this winter.

One of my long term projects moves forward… New (to me) bustles. Slowly pulling together the missing pieces of a new fancy dance outfit. Now I really need to work on my beaded harness set and a couple of large, beaded rosettes…